Holding it Together



Penelope – how flawless she was!
How faithfully she remembered you, Odysseus, the man she married once.
The glory of her virtue will live forever.



What does the perfect wife need to add to the account? What does she have to defend
herself against? If you were to look at her you wouldn’t see it. The pressure of so-called
perfection is only felt on the inside. From there you might not like it, or her, quite so much.

So, listen to her.

Start listening and then take this with you while you do whatever it is you have to do today.

The laundry, the dishes, the bills and so on. This is background, this is day-to-day, every day.

Penelope invites you into her head, she has something to say.

Do you really think I shouldn’t?



What can the worst of wives have to tell us? Nothing but shameful things, according to
some. There’s a lot of noise around her. People have loved to talk about her hatefully. If you
had to face her you might not be able hate her entirely. So, come and face her.

Welcome to the House of Atreus. Sit down. Clytemnestra wants to speak with you.




 With the Artist: Lucy Ruddiman on the Good Wife and the Bad Wife
25 Jan 2022


This virtual event is hosted by Kana Higashino, with guest artist Lucy Ruddiman. The discussion explores Lucy's audio piece "Holding it Together" (2021) and the video performance "Do You Really Think I Shouldn't?" (2021), both in which were written and directed by Ruddiman herself. We discuss the creative process, behind the scenes of the work, and dive into a deep analysis of the performance.